Airlander 10: The World's Largest Aircraft Yet, Successful in First Flight

It's not a bird, it's not a just a plane, but a one ginormous aircraft-and it is called Airlander 10.  This massive 92-meter-long aircraft, dubbed as largest aircraft ever made yet, just accomplished its first successful 19-minute test flight yesterday.  

The test flight was manned by two pilots at Cardington Airfield, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. It was a part of a part of a presentation to the investors and potential investors on the ability of the new aircraft technology to be operational and successfully sustain itself in the midair for the period of the test. Airlander 10 is a hybrid of a helicopter, airplane and airship. The company targets the surveillance aircraft market. The company claims that this British innovation in the aircraft industry will pave way for a new generation of aircrafts in the future. The new aircraft can be used in a variety of purposes like surveillance, cargo and passenger transport and communication. Airlander 10 boasts its new aerodynamic design, material selection and fuel efficiency that convinced the British government for a £3.4m investment.  The research and production was publicly and privately funded. Private investors include Peter Hambro, the mining magnate and scion of the Hambro banking dynasty, and Bruce Dickinson, the frontman of the heavy metal group Iron Maiden.

Hybrid Air Vehicles said in a report by a UK based news site, Independent: "With the ability to fly for up to five days and carry a heavy cargo the potential help in humanitarian situations is really exciting, from disaster relief after a tsunami to delivering water or even monitoring refugees at sea," he says.

The said company is still on the game in producing future models with upgraded specs and more stable flight maneuvering. This was one of the very few aircraft technology research that was open to the public in contrary to the confidential military funded aircraft technology research.